What to say, with such a reviewer and self-proclaimed “weirdsmith” holding the pen, I was expecting to be publicly flagellated in the tabloid pages of one of Thailand’s most prominent English newspapers.

To the contrary, I got one of the most positive reviews so far. One that is worth all the hard work I put into writing a book in a second language.

Algie says “in exposing Malaysia’s dark side through the light of literature, Ferrarese has bravely travelled to a place where few, if any, authors have gone before, in a promising and harrowing debut that marks him as a writer to keep both eyes on.”